Dream a Little Dream
by Xedra
Summary: Ficlet: Xena learns something very interesting about Joxer's dreams. Please R&R! CHAPTER 5: A moment in the sickroom
1. Chapter 1

**Discalimer: **The characters mentioned are not mine, they belong to RenPics/Universal. Just having some fun with them.

**Note:** Takes place during Season Five, after the episode _Lyre, Lyre_.

**Feedback:** Yes, please! Comments are very welcome. This is just a ficlet, but if you'd like me to continue it, please let me know.

**Dream a Little Dream**

by Xedra

Joxer flinched in his sleep a split-second before his eyes popped open. He sucked in a breath and stared blindly at the smoldering campfire a few feet away, his attention focused on the fading images of his dream. His heart pounded frantically and after a long moment he blinked.

He lay frozen while his eyes darted back and forth, trying to see as much of his surroundings as possible without having to actually move. The moment he realized he was really awake and what his eyes were searching for and not wanting to see was only a dream, he sighed and sat up with a groan.

Rubbing at his bleary eyes, he felt a bubble of laughter rise up in his chest. He grinned and wiped his brow, shaking with silent laughter. He reached for the canteen strapped to his pack, flicked it open and took a long drink to soothe his dry throat.

"Bad dream?" a quiet voice asked from close behind him.

Joxer started slightly and turned to see Xena quirking an eyebrow at him while she brushed out Argo's mane. How the warrior managed to looked fully rested and ready to face the day at the crack of dawn, the gods only knew.

He grinned and shook his head, "No -- well, yeah, but not exactly." He rested the canteen next to his leg and wiped the dribble from the corner of his mouth. "Not my dream."

Xena paused mid-brushstroke and blinked at him. "Come again?"

Joxer lifted his arms in a hard stretch and gave a jaw-cracking yawn. He waved a hand dismissively as he blinked his watery eyes. "Jett had a nightmare." He snorted a soft laugh. "Boy, did he ever."

Xena looked puzzled and the slightest bit wary, wondering if that ridiculous helmet he wore didn't do as good a job protecting his head as she thought.

"For as long as I can remember my brothers and I have shared dreams," Joxer explained. "Not all dreams, just really vivid ones. Mostly nightmares when we were little, but as we got older, if any one of us had any particularly, um..." his ears went beet-red as he cut his eyes away from hers, "passionate sort of dream, we'd all know about that, too." He shrugged, "It's a triplet-thing, I guess."

Xena took a moment to absorb this bit of information, then smirked, "That must get pretty interesting."

Joxer snorted. "To say the least. Jett's fantasies are more like nightmares to me and his nightmares..." His mouth curled in a half-grin, "they're pretty funny, actually. And Jace, well..." he scratched the back of his neck, shifting uncomfortably, "he hasn't had any _nightmares_ since we were kids."

Xena considered the alternative and bit back a chuckle, but her voice was laced with amusement, "I see."

Joxer grimaced as a rather frightening image of Ackmar The Meatman's four very large, very undressed sons lined up and dancing in strange synchronization in the middle of Aphrodite's temple flashed before his eyes. "I wish I didn't have to."

On the heels of those images came others, ones he tried very hard not to remember. Those dreams were dark and primal, filled with sweat and pain, sometimes even blood. They showed him a side Jett's nature that disturbed and sometimes scared him. Joxer felt his hands grow cold and shuddered. "By the gods, I really wish I didn't." He took another long drink from his canteen.

Xena's sharp eyes caught the emotions playing across his face and kept the glib comment she'd been about to make to herself. She finished with Argo's mane and stepped over to start on her tail.

Xena's lips twitched in sudden amusement, recalling how Joxer had woken up. "So Jett had one of his funny nightmares?"

Joxer sputtered his water on a laugh, visibly relaxing. "Bananas!" He swallowed and waved his hands to indicate the whole camp area, "Everywhere! Dropping from the trees, covering the ground, just piles of them and this huge fear of taking a step in any direction and squishing them." He chuckled and shook his head, "Jett could never stand anything squishy under his feet or between his toes."

He grinned over at Xena and they both burst out laughing. They didn't even bother to look and see if their noise would wake Gabrielle since she slept like the dead.

He laughed harder, closing and tossing aside his canteen. "Oh, and one time he dreamed a pair of boots followed him all across Greece! He'd run and run or try to ride away, but they'd always be right behind him, these dirty old brown boots with, uh, oh yeah, these big flashy buckles on them. I think they were even dancing at one point." He moved his hands alternately to mimic the dancing steps. "Yeah, some kind of jig with lots of high kicks."

He grinned sheepishly at Xena, "I know I shouldn't laugh. He's my brother and the dreams really do terrify him, but come on, _bananas_ and _boots_? And he has the nerve to laugh at _me_ because I'm not the killer he is?" He rolled his eyes and huffed in amused exasperation.

Xena finished with Argo and patted her rump affectionately. She patted Joxer's head with the same kind of affection as she passed him to sit on the large log they'd rolled next to the fire. "You know, you might not want to mention this dream-sharing thing to Gabrielle."

"Huh? Why not?"

Xena smirked, "Considering the way you feel about her, don't you think she'd wonder about the dreams _you're_ sharing with them?"

Joxer looked over at the sleeping bard and felt his cheeks burning. "Oh. Right." Her reaction to that would be nothing short of a nightmare.

FIN


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Characters still aren't mine, still just having fun.

**Note:** This is no longer a one-shot. Not sure how long it will be, but this will go on for at least a few more chapters. Probably more, who knows?

**Feedback:** Always welcome! Don't be shy. Even the simplest comments are appreciated.

Chapter 2

A couple weeks later, the three companions were settling in for the night at the local tavern of a coastal village that had escaped certain destruction when Xena had cheerfully "persuaded" a certain pirate captain and raggedy his crew to give up their ill-chosen careers.

Joxer was absently plucking at his lyre while Xena sipped her port and Gabrielle her ale. The weather was heavy and wet, so even though the tavern was filled with customers, the atmosphere was pleasantly subdued. Warmed by the roaring fire at their backs and pleased with the results of a good day's wrong-righting, the three friends all sighed with contentment at the same time. Xena grinned. Joxer chuckled softly. Gabrielle snickered into her mug of ale.

Lulled by the soft tune Joxer was coaxing from the strings, Gabrielle set the mug down and rested her chin in her palm, swaying slightly to the melody. She watched his fingers as they moved over the strings, her eyelids slowly growing heavy.

She smiled softly, "That's lovely, Joxer."

Joxer shot a glance at the sleepy, swaying bard and pursed his lips in a shy smile, knowing his face and ears were burning red. He looked over at Xena and huffed a quiet laugh when she just winked at him, then ducked his head back down over his instrument, mumbling a thank you toward the bard.

"Does Jace play?" Gabrielle asked, folding her hands over her empty mug and resting her chin on top of them. Her eyes were glued to the hypnotic movements of his fingers.

Joxer nodded, "We all play. Mother taught us when we were little. Father would teach us to be warriors, but she was determined to pass along her own skills, too." His fingers paused and Gabrielle blinked. She looked up at his face and saw a dreamy look pass over his eyes. "She taught us to dance and sing, too." He rested his chin

against the neck of the lyre and chuckled softly, "At least, she tried. Jace took to that a lot better than Jett or I did."

Xena huffed in protest and drained the last of the port from her goblet. "You were holding your own with him back in Melodia, though." She set the goblet down and sat back, stretching her legs out under the table. "You sounded great together."

Gabrielle made a little hum of agreement, nodding without bothering to lift her head from her knuckles. "You think he's still there?" she murmured. The flamboyant triplet and his troupe had wanted to hang around the musical town for a while longer when the three of them had been ready to move on.

Joxer shook his head and started playing again, this time a different tune; a low, dark melody with an undercurrent of such sadness, Gabrielle felt tears prickling behind her eyes.

"Athens."

Gabrielle blinked her eyes clear. She shouldn't have had that last ale. She felt all warm and fluffy, with the fire and the music, but her brain was going fuzzy. "What was that?"

"Jace went back to our father's house in Athens." His fingers struck a discordant note and they all winced. Joxer sighed and set the instrument down. He thrust his fingers through his hair, and then dropped his elbows on the table, holding his head in his hands. "He left when we were fifteen and never looked back. I can't imagine why he would now."

Gabrielle frowned, "But how do you know he's there? We haven't received any messages since we left him in Melodia."

Joxer was silent for a long moment then turned to Xena and gave her a pointed look. "I just know." He shrugged at Gabrielle, unable to explain the rather tense dreams he'd had lately of his brother and his childhood home.

Gabrielle lifted her head and looked from Joxer to Xena and back again, her head reeling a bit from the ale. "Did I miss something?"

Xena smiled sympathetically at Joxer then grinned down at Gabrielle and pushed back her chair. "Probably. Come on, let's hit the sack. We're headed for Marathon in the morning."

"Why Marathon? Is there trouble?" Gabrielle got up and followed her, weaving slightly. Definitely too much ale.

Xena glanced at Joxer, who was still seated and looking stunned. "I hope not. We're just going to go and make sure there isn't any."

Gabrielle was confused, but her brain was too fuzzy to try and figure out Xena's thinking at the moment. Joxer watched them head up the stairs to their room and felt a great surge of gratitude toward the warrior. While he certainly hoped there wasn't any real trouble in Marathon, he knew it was a ruse. He knew what Xena was thinking. Since they would certainly be passing through Athens along the way, why not stop by and see how dear old Jace was doing?

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Joxer thrashed around in his cot, his hands grasping wildly in the air for anything to grab onto. His mouth worked silently, screams locked inside his throat as he choked out small grunts. He couldn't breathe! His chest was on fire, burning, starving for oxygen.

It was dark. Darkness everywhere, all around him, was pressing in from all sides, pulling him down. He was falling, falling into a deeper darkness, and he couldn't stop. Twisting, turning, reaching, finding nothing to catch him.

Only when his frantic movements tossed him onto the floor, did he wake. He gasped, sucking in great gulps of air until he was dizzy. He rolled over onto his stomach and pressed his forehead against the splintered wood, fighting down the urge to vomit.

Another dream. This one so much worse than the others. He had to leave, he had to get there, he had to find him. He had to go _now_.

He pushed himself up onto shaky legs, shoved on his boots, and grabbed his sword and helmet. Outside Xena and Gabrielle's room across the hall, he rapped his knuckles twice on the door, waited a beat, then twice again, waited a beat, then twice again. He was ready to pound on it with a fist when it opened.

Xena stood there in her shift, holding her sword. Her eyes showed no sign of fatigue, and he knew she was alert to every sound and movement around them. She scrutinized him carefully and narrowed her eyes in concern.

"What's wrong?" She noted how his hair stood out in sweaty clumps, how his normally pale face was positively ashen. He was out of breath and shaking. This was not good.

"I have to go, Xena. It's Jace. He—" Joxer shook his head, "I don't know. I don't know what it means, but it's bad. I have to go."

Xena nodded and turned to gather her things. "Give us five minutes." She grabbed Gabrielle's pack and tossed it onto the sleeping bard's chest, eliciting a grunt and a grumbled curse. "We'll meet you in the stables."

Joxer swallowed thickly against a dry throat, nodded, and stumbled down the hall. Xena already had her leathers on and was shoving her feet into her boots while Gabrielle rolled up to sit on the side of the bed, reaching for her boots before she was even fully awake. "Hurry it up, Gabrielle. We got trouble."

The grim tone in the warrior's voice shook the cobwebs right out of the bard's head. She didn't waste any time asking questions. By the time Xena was sliding her sword in its sheath, Gabrielle had her sais in her boots and her pack on her shoulder and they were rushing out the door.

To Be Continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **The story is all mine, but any characters from the show are not. They're just hanging out here for a while, but they'll be home before dark, I promise.

**Feedback: **Yes, please. Comments are very encouraging. :D

**Chapter 3**

When they met Joxer at the stables, he was leading out Argo and Sandy, Gabrielle's newly acquired horse. A stable boy followed him out, leading a grey mare.

"What's this?" Xena nodded toward the mare as she took Argo's reins from Joxer. She also noticed he was minus his helmet and sword.

Joxer handed Gabrielle the reins to her horse and shrugged at Xena. "We'll go faster if we all ride, so I traded for her."

Xena looked the horse over carefully and her keen eye judged it to be a healthy one, and the way the mare responded to Joxer's handling as he swung into the saddle showed she was steady, too.

Gabrielle, bleary-eyed and thoroughly confused, caught Xena's eye. "What could he have possibly traded?" The bard knew that their friend didn't carry much more than they did when they traveled.

Xena glanced over at Joxer. She couldn't help but notice how much smaller he looked without his clanky armor and that ridiculously large sword, like one good stiff wind would tumble him right out of his saddle. "Everything," she answered Gabrielle with a sigh and climbed onto Argo.

The answer made Gabrielle pause for a moment and look at Joxer. The mare shifted nervously beneath him, responding to his obvious anxiety. Her sleep-deprived brain seemed to finally wake up as she quickly mounted her own horse. "Why the rush? Is there actually trouble in Marathon?" she asked Xena.

It was Joxer who answered her. "Athens." He nudged the mare forward with his heel, trotting away.

Gabrielle looked inquiringly at Xena who shook her head and nudged Argo along. "I'll explain on the way."

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They rode hard for hours and hours, making conversation impossible until Xena forced Joxer to slow down sometime in the late afternoon. Joxer started to protest, but one look from Xena changed his mind. They made camp near a stream; and while Joxer watered the horses, Xena filled Gabrielle in on what was going on. When Xena was finished explaining about the strange dream-bond Joxer shared with his brothers, Gabrielle could only blink in response.

Xena watched her friend as she soaked in the information, the bard looking puzzled and fascinated at the same time. Gabrielle glanced in the direction Joxer had left camp, to the fire Xena had made and back again, over and over, tapping her fingers against her chin. The warrior held back a grin, imagining all the questions that must be churning in the bard's mind, but when Gabrielle turned to her, she halted the barrage with a raised hand and shook her head.

"That's all I know. Joxer's the one you have to ask." Xena saw her glance back toward the stream with interest and sighed. "He's tired and worried, Gabrielle…"

Gabrielle frowned at Xena as she reached for the saddle bags and dug out some traveler's bread and a round of cheese. "I know that. I wasn't going to ask him everything right away. I wouldn't do that." She gave Xena a sharp look that clearly asked if the warrior really thought she would upset him like that. Xena's bland expression and raised eyebrow was her answer. Gabrielle stared at her in disbelief.

Xena stretched then took out her sword for sharpening while Gabrielle went very silent, glaring down at the cheese she was cutting. The bard was still deep in thought by the time Joxer returned with the horses. Gabrielle looked at him and felt a pang in her chest because she knew Xena was right. She'd always been rather thoughtless when it came to Joxer.

When Joxer had the reins of all the horses loosely wrapped around a low branch, he sat at the fire across from Gabrielle. He stared into the flames for a while, his hands tightly clasped, until a hunk of bread and cheese was held out in front of him. He took it, nodded, but didn't look up at Gabrielle. He felt her hand squeeze his shoulder.

They ate in silence, rested for a few hours then mounted their horses again for another long, hard ride.

Such it went for the better part of a week, until one evening Joxer woke from his rest with a hard gasp, startling his friends awake as well. He sat up and rubbed his hands over his face as the women kneeled down on either side of him.

Xena recognized the haunted look in his eyes, put a hand on his arm and asked gently, "What did you see?"

Gabrielle looked at her sharply, then back at Joxer and scooted closer to him, concern etched on her face.

Joxer took a deep breath and shook his head, his voice thready and rough, "Nothing. It was all dark, like before, but hot. Really hot, like the air was burning and I could hardly breathe."

Xena frowned, motioned to Gabrielle to give him a canteen. While he drank, the women shared a look and a nod and began packing up camp again.

By mid-afternoon the next day, they reached Athens. They decided to stop at a tavern to eat and care for the horses when Joxer explained they wouldn't receive any hospitality from his father. Xena took charge of the horses while Gabrielle secured a table and Joxer ordered the food.

Taking three mugs of ale from the flirty barmaid, Joxer turned to carry them back to the table when a young boy ran slammed into his side, knocking the drinks from his hands and almost knocking him over as well. Several patrons around them grumbled and cursed at the disturbance and mess, but thankfully no one had been doused with flying ale. The kid muttered an apology and ran off, leaving Joxer with no drinks and ale-soaked boots.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned back to the barmaid. She winked and handed him three more ales, dismissing the mess with a wave of her hand. She stroked his hand as he took the drinks from her and gave him a sultry smile. His grin acknowledged her invitation but didn't accept it and he felt relieved when she just shrugged and smiled and turned her attention to the next patron.

Xena was at the table when he returned. "Check your money pouch, Joxer," she said wryly as she sipped her ale. She'd seen the boy bump against him, a common distraction for a thief.

Joxer reached under his tunic for the small leather pouch tied to his belt and sighed when he felt it there, then frowned. He pulled it loose and shook it. The money was gone. He groaned and threw it on the table. "Should've seen that coming."

Gabrielle noticed something sticking out of the pouch and quickly set down her ale. She took the pouch and withdrew a small rolled-up scrap of parchment. She held it out to Joxer. "Was this there before?"

Joxer took it and mumbled a "No" before unrolling it. Xena smirked and nudged Gabrielle, "Kid's got talent to manage that." Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

"Jett sent him."

The women turned to him in surprise. Joxer handed Xena the parchment and took a deep gulp of his ale.

Gabrielle leaned in close to Xena to hear her quietly read out the words on the parchment."'_The Black Swan.__Midnight.__' _- And it's signed with a triangle."

Joxer nodded, "Jett wrote it, I know his hand. And the triangle…" He took the parchment back and stared at the little symbol. "It's something we came up with when we were boys, a secret sign just for us." He rolled the scrap back up and slipped it back into the pouch with a sigh. "The Black Swan is an inn a few miles outside of the city to the north."

Xena nodded, "He's been waiting for you, so he must know something. Come on, we have some time before we meet him, so let's get some rest." She caught Gabrielle's arm as the bard started digging through her bag for her own money purse and raised an eyebrow at him. "Why don't you make the arrangements with your new friend." She twisted her lips into a wry smile and nodded over at the barmaid.

Joxer blushed slighty, took the purse as Gabrielle slapped it into his hand made his way back over to the bar.

Xena met Gabrielle's bland gaze and shrugged, "It'll cost us half the dinars this way and you know it."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

To Be Continued...


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **The story is all mine, but any characters from the show are not. They're just here to play and eat nutbread. They love my nutbread.

**Feedback: **I love feedback! All comments, big or small, are very welcome. :D

**Chapter ****4**

When they walked into the Black Swan at midnight, the old innkeeper took one look at Joxer, blinked, and then glanced swiftly at Xena and Gabrielle, his gaze lingering slightly on the chakram at the warrior's waist. He grunted in a way that could've been a greeting or a complaint, but was difficult to tell which coming from such a wizened face, then snapped his fingers twice. A young boy appeared so quickly he seemed to have sprung from the shadows. Xena recognized him as the boy who had bumped into Joxer at the tavern. The innkeeper pointed his thumb down the hallway to their right and mumbled that young Makus would show them the way.

The boy led them to a room at the end of the hallway and left them at the door. Xena entered first, noticed Jett rising from a comfortable chair by the fire, and moved her gaze swiftly around the room before letting her friends enter after her.

Joxer quickly went to his brother, but hesitated at the cold look in the assassin's eyes and shifted nervously on his feet for a long moment. "Um, hey Jett. I didn't expect you to be here." Joxer scratched at the back of his neck, "Aren't you supposed to be in prison?"

Jett's fist shot out and slammed across Joxer's jaw, sending him crashing down into the chair.

Gabrielle gasped and stepped forward, only to be halted by Xena's arm in front of her. Xena shook her head and signaled for her to wait, not taking her eyes from the assassin. Gabrielle scowled, but stepped back, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides, her palms itching to grab her sais.

Jett lifted Joxer from the chair and pulled his head under his arm, giving him a rough noogie. "That's for not expecting me, idiot." Joxer squirmed and grunted, pushing futilely against his brother's grip. Jett ground his knuckles one last time into Joxer's head and released him, then pulled him into a hearty embrace.

"He's alive," Jett muttered and Joxer went very still, clutching tight handfuls of leather on his brother's back, then sagged against him in relief. Jett pulled him away by the back of the neck and pushed him down into the chair.

Xena grinned wryly at the men and Gabrielle huffed impatiently. "Joxer, what's going on?"

Jett's eyes gleamed and his lips curved in a leer as he looked her up and down, drawling her name out slowly. Joxer scrambled up from the chair, pulled at Jett's arm and found his throat in Jett's lightning fast grip. "Th-they know, J-Jett," he choked out. "They _know_!"

Jett's attention was caught by the movement of Xena's fingers tapping idly on her chakram. She raised one raised eyebrow as his gleaming eyes swept over her as well, but when she curled her fingers around the weapon Jett shrugged, releasing his brother and letting him fall to the floor.

Gabrielle rushed over to help Joxer to his feet. "What is wrong with you?" She glared at Jett then pushed Joxer's hands away from his throat to assess any injury herself. Joxer stood very still and gulped painfully as she examined him, running her fingers gently across the skin of his throat and up over his bruised cheek.

"Jace is alive." Joxer wheezed, then hissed as Gabrielle accidentally pressed a sore spot.

Jett looked at Xena as he spoke. "I was closer to home when I had the dream and found him beaten and half drowned in the stream that runs through the west end of our father's property. I have a healer looking after him."

Joxer grasped Gabrielle's hands away from his face, holding them still. "Where?"

Jett answered without breaking eye contact with the warrior, a small smile curving his lips. "Down the hall, second door to the right. Grelkor is standing guard, but he'll let you pass."

Joxer was out the door in a flash, Gabrielle behind him.

The warrior and the assassin stared at each other for another long moment before Jett sighed and plopped down into the chair and rubbed hard at his forehead.

"How bad is he?"

Jett shook his head, "Bad. His face was so pummeled; I wouldn't have recognized him if not for the ridiculous outfit he was wearing. Whipped, twenty lashes at least. Dragged, too, by the looks of him, but not too far or there wouldn't be anything left to drown. Got a few cracked ribs and shattered knee from it. They went easy on him."

"_They?_" Xena grasped neck of his leather tunic in her fists and lifted him up to her face. "They, _WHO_?"

Jett hung loosely in her grip, his eyes blank and cold. "The Punishers. My father's select and highly trained group of thugs."

To Be Continued…


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: The story is all mine, but any characters from the show are not. I've just created a sandbox for them to play in.

Feedback: I love feedback! All comments, big or small, are very welcome. :D

Chapter 5

Joxer raced down the hall with Gabrielle on his heels. He turned a corner and stopped himself just before plowing into a massive leather-clad man blocking the corridor. Gabrielle bumped into him from behind and quickly grabbed at his sides to keep them from toppling both into the grim-faced guard.

Joxer gulped and cleared his throat. "Oh hey, um, you must be Grel—"

Grelkor silenced Joxer immediately with a dagger point to his throat. The big man gave him a quick once-over and grunted in amusement, clearly unimpressed with what he saw. When he looked at Gabrielle his eyes went sharp and cold, giving the small, tough-looking woman closer attention. She curled a hand over Joxer's shoulder and met the guard's gaze steadily with a raised eyebrow in her best imitation of Xena's famous no-nonsense Look. Grelkor grunted again and stepped aside so they could pass.

Inside, they found a woman standing over the bed, gently wiping Jace's forehead with a damp cloth. She was tall and slim, dressed in the blue robes of a healer. Her long, dark curls were tied back from a care-worn face and showed only a few strands of gray for a woman in her middle years.

Her eyes snapped up as they drew closer to the bed and she immediately angled her body in a protective pose. She'd heard no commotion from the guard at the door, but she was a cautious woman and would allow no harm to come to one in her care if she could help it. In the dim light she closely watched the way they moved, but they didn't seem threatening. She dared a glance toward the door and felt the tension in her body ease slightly to see the bulk form of the guard still standing there.

She quickly focused back on the pair as they came close enough for the candlelight to illuminate their faces. Her eyes blinked and widened slightly at seeing Joxer. She relaxed fully and exhaled a relieved breath, her face softening into a smile.

"Oh! You're the other one. I am Eleni." She glanced at Gabrielle, gave a small nod of greeting and waved them to come closer.

Joxer looked down at the figure on the bed and felt his chest grow tight. If he hadn't been told to find Jace here, he wouldn't have recognized this battered body as his own brother. His eyes followed where the healer pointed out and explained the worst injuries. Bandages were wrapped around almost every exposed bit of his skin, some of them seeping through with blood. His chest was bound tightly with long strips of stiff linen for the broken ribs. Under the sheet that covered him, his right leg was raised and the broken knee was also wrapped tightly in a bulky mound. Joxer looked at his brother's face and sucked in a hard breath. It was a mass of bloody bruises and scrapes, the skin shiny from the salve the healer had smoothed over it, all but his eyes. His eyes were swollen shut and oozing. He felt Gabrielle's arm come around his waist and squeeze him tightly for support.

"He will live," Eleni spoke softly. She smiled kindly at the pair of eyes that snapped up to hers and focused on the brown ones. "He has come through the worst of it already. A fever held him long, but he broke through it yesterday and has slept peacefully since. The bones will mend and the cuts will heal in time. He _will_ live." The earnestness in her eyes helped to relieve the panic clenching at Joxer's chest.

She turned away to soak the cloth she held in a bowl of cool water once more. She carefully and very gently wiped the ooze from the injured brother's eyes. "I must tell you, however, that I do not yet know how badly his eyes are damaged. It will take a few days for the swelling to go down enough for me to examine them."

"His eyes? You mean he could be-" Joxer whispered brokenly.

"It is possible." Eleni reached across the bed and touched his arm. "But I have seen injuries like his and others even more serious that did not result in blindness. Please do not worry too much."

Eleni held out her arm and motioned for him to come around the bed and sit in the chair behind her. When she saw he was about to protest taking her seat, she shook her head and swiftly came around to him and pulled his arm, forcing the rest of him to follow, and sat him down. "You keep an eye on him while I fix up more poultices."

"Can I help you with that?" Gabrielle requested softly. "I have some experience in healing."

Eleni grinned at her, "Traveling with a warrior like Xena, how could you help it?" Gabrielle could only grin back and shrug. "Come, my things are all laid out over here."

As the healer showed the bard her herbs and potions, Joxer watched over his brother, his eyes passing from his face to his chest and back again, over and over. Needing the connection, he laid his arm on the bed against Jace's arm still under the sheet and watched him breathe, unconsciously matching his own breaths to the rhythm of his brother's.


End file.
